. it has been happening for the last several months. meanwhile atthepentagonofficials are looking at big changes in how they fight cyber terror. bob orr is in washington. >> those attacks on the "new york times" and "wall street journal" are part of a plot to crack critical systems inside of the u.s. cyber detectives traced the computer break-ins at "the new york times" and "wall street journal" to government hackers inside china. chinese deny the allegations calling them not professional and groundless but both papers say there is evidence hackers stole reporters' passwords and attempted to monitor coverage of the chinese government. newspapers are just the latest targets. sources say state-sponsored spies mostly from china every day infiltrate a broad spectrum of government and business networks inside the u.s. >> cyber, i believe, represents as big a threat to the security of this country as any one specific threat. >> reporter: at his confirmation hearing thursday secretary of defense nominee chuck hagel warned computer-based attacks could be crippling

say that means as many as 700,000 of the 800,000 civilians who work for thepentagon. >>this is not a beltway phenomenon. on our civilians it will be catastrophic. >> reporter: civilians like sue ann fallenberg a single mom and administrative assistant at a naval school 3,000 miles away from washington in monterey california. >> i would have to get a part-time job to support my family. >> reporter: she is worryied about the 20% pay cut if she's furloughed or put on involuntary pay one day a week. >> can you reduce the rent for 20%? i can't say that. >> reporter: and it's not just cuts to the pentagon dozens of agencies including the fbi will also have to make difficult choices. >> the fbi would be in the position of having to evaluate where those reductions can come from, and that may impact in the national security arena. >> reporter: the president will continue in coming days to highlight the hardships to individuals and to the public at large if the cuts take place. democrats congressional campaign committee also goes on the offensive today.

and services. the move comes 16 months after thepentagonrepealedits ban on openly gay service. an announcement is expected in the next few days. >>> white house defending a memo from the department of justice authorizing drone attacks against americans working with terrorists overseas. the memo says such actions are legal under three conditions. if the suspect is engaged in planning operations to kill americans, if it's not possible to capture the suspect before an attack, and if the operation follows u.s. laws and war principles. >> someone who takes up arms against the united states in a war against the united states is an enemy and therefore could be targeted accordingly. >> critics say such an attack would violate the constitutional rights of american terror suspects to a trial by jury. so far there's only one known case of an american targeted with a drone strike, anwar al- awlaki in yemen in 2011. >>> president obama meanwhile set to visit the middle east next month with stops in israel, the west bank and jordan. it would be the first

to take effect. it will impact virtually every major agency in washington.thepentagoncouldsee roughly half of the reductions and that has republicans upset. >> we're going to begin to unravel the finest military in the history of the world at a time when we need it most. >> reporter: mandatory cuts in domestic spending could also hit americans hard. there could be furloughs of food safety employees, leading to a shortage of meat poultry and eggs and pushing up food prices. 50,000 tsa workers could see their hours cut back that would mean longer security lines for air travelers, and more than 350,000 people who need mental health treatment could be denied. hundreds of thousands of government workers from teachers to federal law enforcement agents are likely to be furloughed. many republicans admit the sequester isn't ideal, but they insist cuts have to be made. >> let me be very clear and i say this to the president as i say it to you, these spending cuts are going to go through on march 1st. >> reporter: the white house warns the cuts would get phased in just a

're less than a month away from massive layoffs and cuts in spending atthepentagonand elsewhere. nancy cordes is on capitol hill. >> reporter: good morning. they call this the sequester and both signs long predicted it could harm the economy if the cuts are allowed to kick in. instead of working together to do something about it they resorted to the blame game a month before the deadline. republicans may be the party of spending cuts but on monday house speaker john boehner insisted the looming sequester was the president's idea. >> the president first proposed this sequester in 2011 and insisted that it be part of the debt limit agreement. >> reporter: unless congress acts the package of cuts worth $1.2 trillion will start to kick in march 1st, taking a $55 billion bite out of this year's defense budget and $27 billion from domestic discretionary spending. according to the congressional budget office more than 1 million jobs are at risk. defense secretary leon panetta had this warning. >> we are going to weaken the united states and make it much more difficult t

ballots. >>> "the washington post" reportsthepentagonis extending certain benefits to same-sex spouses, it could include housing privileges access to base recreational facilities and joint duty assignments. they are not expected to include health benefits. >>> ryan braun claims he has nothing to hide linked to a miami clinic that allegedly trbted performance-enhancine-enhancing drugs. braun said he used the clinic for consult igss and there was a dispute over monday. >>> the requesting "san francisco chronicle"" says facebook fatigue is settling in. 38% are cutting back and 61% have taken a facebook vacation leaving the site for weeks or longer. >>> "usa today" says chimney sweeps in germany face new competition. many have added to their duties inspecting heating systems and checking for >>> a bit chilly around the bay area, norah, as we have mostly clear skies outside and the sun just coming up on our mount vaca cam looking good there. should be a beautiful day ahead as it looks like this will be the break before we start to see a chance of rain re

headlines from s around the globe. "the washington post" says thespentagonisextending benefits the a to same-sex couples, include they d access to assignments, they do not provide on-base housing o privileges. >> "the houston chronicle" evenge reports an avenge killing of a dui crash, a texas man is accused of shooting and killing a driver who hit his car while drunk. the crash killed the alleged shooter's two young boys outside the car helping their dad when car they were hit. >> a review by the "wall street journal" finds a large number of s people have not proven they're m. eligible for a phone service. last year they provided phones to americans with low income. >> and mice fall short as test may be subjects. it finds t using mice may be totally misleading for major for wasted burns and trauma. >>> we are starting out with a few patches of fog this morning. if you are heading out the door it's still chilly in some of the valleys, as well. getting outside today, clouds early on but plenty of sunshine by the afternoon still freezing though inland. 31 in